Early life

Hugh
Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the
youngest of five children of English parents
Chris Jackman and Grace Watson, and the second of his siblings to
be born in Australia. (He also has a younger half sister.)
His mother left the family when he was eight years old, and he
remained with his accountant father and siblings.

Jackman, at 6'3, stands a foot taller than Wolverine, who is said
in the original comic book to be 5' 3". Hence, the filmmakers were
frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from
the waist up to make him appear shorter than he actually is, and
his co-stars wore platform soles. Jackman was also required to add
a great deal of muscle for the role, and in preparing for the
fourth film in the series, he bench-pressed over 300 pounds. An
instant star upon the film's release, Jackman later reprised his
role in 2003's X-Men 2,
2006's X-Men: The Last
Stand, and X-Men Origins:
Wolverine, which was released May 1, 2009.

2001

Jackman starred as Leopold, opposite Meg
Ryan, in the 2001 romantic comedy film Kate & Leopold, a role for which
he received a Golden Globe nomination
for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Jackman plays a
Victorian English duke who is accidentally time-traveled to 21st-century
Manhattan, where he meets Kate, a cynical advertising
executive.

In 2001, Jackman also starred in the action/drama Swordfish, with John Travolta, and Halle Berry. This was the second time Jackman
worked with Berry, and the two have worked together twice more in
the X-Men movies, making a total of four
movies starring Jackman and Berry from 2000 to 2006. He also hosted
an episode of "Saturday Night
Live" in 2001.

In addition, Jackman hosted the Tony
Awards in 2003, 2004, and 2005, garnering positive reviews. His
hosting of the 2004 Tony Awards earned him an Emmy
Award win for Outstanding Individual Performer in a Variety,
Musical or Comedy program in 2005.

Films 2003–2008

After 2003's X2: X-Men
United, in 2004 Jackman played the title role of a monster
killer named Gabriel Van Helsing
in the film Van Helsing.
He was featured as the new Van Helsing in the book "Slayers and
Their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing The Dead" written by
Bruce A. McClelland.

Jackman starred in the 2006 film The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan and also starring
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson. As Robert Angier,
Jackman portrayed a magician who built up a rivalry with
contemporary Alfred Borden in attempt to 'one up' each other in the
art of deception. Jackman stated that his main reason for doing
The Prestige was to work with the musician Bowie, who
played scientist Nikola Tesla.

Jackman
portrayed three different characters in Darren Aronofsky's science-fiction film The Fountain: Tommy Creo, a
neuroscientist, who's torn between
his wife, Izzi (Rachel Weisz) who is
dying of a brain tumor and his work at
trying to cure her; Captain Tomas Creo, a Spanish Conquistador in 1532 Seville; and a future astronaut, Tom, travelling to a
golden nebula in an eco-spacecraft and seeking to be reunited with
Izzi. Jackman said The Fountain was his most
difficult film thus far, due to the physical and emotional demands
of the part.

In 2007, Jackman produced and guest-starred in the television
musical-dramedy series Viva Laughlin, which was canceled by
CBS after two episodes. A decision about the
remaining episodes already filmed at the time of cancellation has
yet to be made.

Jackman's 2008 movies included Deception (which he starred in
and produced), Uncle Jonny, and Australia.

Jackman played a tough, independent cattle drover, who reluctantly helps an English
noblewoman in her quest to save both her philandering husband's
Australian cattle station and the
half-caste Aboriginal child she finds
there.

Of the movie, Jackman said, "This is pretty much one of those roles
that had me pinching myself all the way through the shoot. I got to
shoot a big-budget, shamelessly old-fashioned romantic epic set
against one of the most turbulent times in my native country's
history, while, at the same time, celebrating that country's
natural beauty, its people, its cultures.... I'll die a happy man
knowing I've got this film on my CV."

Future projects

An action drama, Drive, starring Jackman, is currently
in production

Jackman is also planned to star in a remake of Carousel, scheduled to be released
in 2010, in which he will play Billy Bigelow.

Jackman is being considered, along with Ewan McGregor, to
reprise the role of Joe Gillis in a new film version of the Andrew
Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard.

Jackman is also currently working on creating a new comic book series, Nowhere Man, with
U.S. publisher Virgin Comics and
writer Marc Guggenheim, with hopes
of adapting it to a film as well.

Jackman will star in a movie named Unbound Captives,
to be released in 2010, where he will play alongside his past
co-star, Rachel Weisz and Robert Pattinson.

Jackman will star in The Greatest American Showman, a
contemporary musical based on the life of P.T. Barnum. The female
love interest part is being written with Anne Hathaway in
mind.

Production company

In 2005, Jackman joined with longtime assistant John Palermo to
form a production company, Seed
Productions, whose first project was Viva Laughlin in 2007. Jackman's actress
wife Deborra-Lee Furness is also
involved in the company, and Palermo had three rings made with an
inscription meaning "unity" for himself, Furness, and Jackman.
About the trio's collaboration Jackman reports "I'm very lucky in
the partners I work with in my life, Deb and John Palermo. It
really works. We all have different strengths. I love it. It's very
exciting."

The Fox-based Seed label has grown in size to include execs Amanda
Schweitzer, Kathryn Tamblyn, Allan Mandelbaum and Joe Marino, with
Alana Free operating the Sydney-based production office whose goal
is to mount modest-budget films to harness local talent in
Jackman's home country.

Other interests

Charity work

As a philanthropist, Jackman is a longtime proponent of microcredit — the extension of very small loans
to impoverished prospective entrepreneurs in undeveloped countries.
He is a vocal supporter of Muhammad
Yunus, microcredit pioneer and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Jackman is a global advisor of the Global Poverty Project, for which he
narrated a documentary; and he and the project's founder Hugh Evan
visited the UN for the cause in 2009..He is also a World Vision ambassador and participated in the
climate week NYC ceremony on September 21, 2009.

Jackman supports The Art of Elysium and the MPTV Fund Foundation,
and he and his wife Deborra-Lee
Furness are patrons of the Bone Marrow Institute in
Australia.Jackman also narrated the 2008 documentary about global
warming, The Burning Season.

Jackman also uses his Twitter account for
charity. On April 14, 2009 Jackman posted on his Twitter page that
he would donate $100,000 to one individual's favorite non profit
organization. On April 21, 2009 he revealed his decision to donate
$50,000 to Charity:Water and $50,000
to Operation of Hope.

Sports

Jackman has shown keen interest in a variety of sports. In high
school, he played rugby and cricket, took part in high
jumping and was on the swimming team. He also enjoys basketball and kayaking.
He has also expressed an interest in football, committing his
support to Norwich City FC.

Jackman can also play the piano, does yoga every day, and has been
a member of the School of Practical Philosophy since 1992.

Personal life

Jackman married Deborra-Lee
Furness on 11 April, 1996. They met on Correlli, an Australian television series. Jackman personally
designed an engagement ring for Furness, and their wedding rings
bore the Sanskrit inscription "Om paramar
mainamar," translated as "we dedicate our union to a greater
source." They currently divide their time between
Sydney and New York City.

Furness had two miscarriages, following
which she and Jackman adopted two children,
Oscar Maximillian (born 15 May, 2000) and Ava Eliot (born 10 July,
2005).

Mentions in popular culture

In the ABC
comedy-drama Scrubs,
Dr. Cox mentions his seemingly irrational
hatred of Jackman in his infamous rants throughout the series, only
for J.D. to whisper 'Hugh Jackman's
Wolverine! How dare he.', once he leaves.

Punk'd - "Fire in the hole" - On the 7th
season of Punk'd Jackman was led to believe
that he had accidentally blown up director Brett Ratner's
house.

On the Season 6, Episode 13 of Will
& Grace, which aired on February 10, 2004, the character
Jack (Sean Hayes), mentions he's going to
see The Boy From Oz, because he
can't wait to see Hugh Jackman. He later discusses wanting to sue
Hugh Jackman/The Boy From Oz for stealing some of his moves.